What does it mean to be human? For a long time, the answer seemed clear. Our species, Homo sapiens — with our complex thoughts and deep emotions — were the only true humans to ever walk the Earth.

In the last decade, archaeologists have learned to read the genetic traces that ancient humans and Neanderthals left not only ...

Researchers have retrieved Neanderthal nuclear DNA from cave deposits in northern Spain and southern Siberia, yielding new clues to the population history of Neanderthals. With the advent of nuclear ...

A genetic analysis of dozens of ancient skeletons from East Africa helps pin down the origins of coastal Swahili society. By Elie Dolgin A long history of mercantile trade along the eastern shores of ...

The oldest sediment DNA discovered so far comes from Greenland and is 2 million years old.

The famous insect biologist, Edward O. Wilson, who died this week once said, “There is a need for a discipline of anthropological genetics.” Indeed, in the past few decades, the growing efficiency and ...

They are best known as the people who lived “in a land flowing with milk and honey” until they were vanquished by the ancient Israelites and disappeared from history. But a new scientific report ...